


The Alchemist's Journey

by Legion8



Category: tangled the series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Bad Parent Quirin (Disney), Inspired by Varian and the Seven Kingdoms - Kaitlyn Ritter & Anna Lencioni, Varian Has Issues (Disney)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27238810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legion8/pseuds/Legion8
Summary: After defeating Zhan Tiri, and fulfilling his duties as the royal engineer. Varian leaves Corona behind, on a quest to find a country free of magicThis proves harder that he first thought, and he finds himself intertwined in another mystery, only he can truly understand.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue, (Ready as I'll ever be)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> This is my first fanfiction, although I have been writing for years, this is an Au, where Quirin abandoned Varian after being freed from the amber, and the poor boy also has a metal arm, for reasons that will be explained in future chapters. The idea of this story is based off of the concept of Varian and the Seven Kingdoms, although the characters and story are far different. Please leave comments and feedback!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

"Varian, you still have a chance to stay, are you sure you want to leave us? We'll miss you!"

Rapunzel was gripping the boy in a tight hug, and although he usually hated physical affection, he let it slide for today.

"Don't worry Rapunzel, I'll be back before you know it! You don't see me that often anyways." 

She pouted, " only because you won't let us see you, what are you doing down there that makes you unable to see your friends?"

He shrugged, lately he had been working on more lethal projects, and it wasn't that he didn't trust the princess, but Varian was afraid that she would become concerned for him, think that he was sinking back into his state of mental breakdown. 

"Oh, this and that, nothing important." He looked away, face turning a little red, as he became flustered. Darn it, he was a horrible liar.

She didn't pry any more, fortunately, and she loosened her hold on him, he started loading his alchemy supplies into the balloon. He was especially proud of this one, the engine has been chemically enhanced, giving it exactly 3.4 times the speed of his last one, and this time it wasn't flammable, he gave a little shudder as he recalled the explosion, fortunately no one had been aboard, but the townspeople hadn't been too pleased when it crashed

burning more brightly than a million lanterns, in one of their fields, destroying it beyond repair. The automatic planters and extra land that had been gifted to them, hadn't helped.

Eugene, nudged him with his elbow, concern filling the man's eyes, he had been helping Varian load his balloon, but had been against the idea of him leaving from the start " You know Varian, you're not even an adult yet, are you sure you should be flying across the ocean on a balloon? Especially on your own", he had been trying to talk him out of it for the past week. Using more reason than his wife, sure, but nothing could deter Varian from his objective. Finding a country where no magic was used. He figured it would be easy, sure in Corona, the nasty thing had been prominent, but there had to be at least one continent where it didn't exist.

"Eugene, I'm 15," he paused for a second, unsure, "16?" Glancing at Ruddiger, who sat on a pile of bags. " I could be 17, is that right?"

The raccoon shrugged unhelpfully, Varian turned back to his friends. " My point is, is that I'm fine, I've taken care of myself before, and I can do it again, this time with more resources." He noticed the look of guilt on the princesses face when he mentioned taking care of himself, and quickly tacked on " and a whole lot more support, I appreciate it Rapunzel, really, I do." He gave her a big smile and pulled a small gadget out of one of his boxes.

" Here, before I go, I figured you could help me test out my newest invention, I call it the " Prison of Time'' a little dramatic I know, but I liked the name." He continued to prattle on about the mechanisms of the object, as Eugene and Rapunzel watched, nodding occasionally, but understanding nothing.

"And so, with just a movement of my finger." He said, almost whispering as he pushed the button. "An image comes out." And indeed, a slip of paper slid out the bottom of the device. Varian held it up proudly, and showed the couple the picture printed on it, the photo captured The princess and her husband perfectly.The two stared at it awe, it was more detailed and brightly colored than even the most talented artists paintings

He handed it to them, with a confident smile. They snatched it up, gazing over it with wonder. 

"Hey, do you think I could get a few more of these things before you leave?" Eugene asked, eyeing the machine, slicking back his hair, and already posing for the future pictures.

" Have fun, but do, not, break it, this is a prototype and I'm not sure if I could make it again easily."

The man walked off with the P.O.T, leaving Varian and Rapunzel alone,

" Really, I know you think we just want you to stay," she said, in an almost pleading way.

He looked at her, eyebrow raised unbelievingly.

She laughed " Ok, I half lied we don't want you to leave. But Eugene and I are worried for you, why are you actually going away? Have we been treating you badly?" 

Badly? They had done nothing of the sort! Giving him a huge laboratory in the basement of the castle, visiting him nearly every day, even when he didn't want them to, making him feel wanted and loved. They had certainly not been mistreating him.

" No, it's not that, I, I just have my own reasons, that's all." He leaned over the edge of the basket, staring off in the direction of the ocean a little sadly. She stood next to him, and held his hand, comfortingly. She often treated him like a little brother, and although he would never admit it, he enjoyed when she did, it was nice in a way Varian couldn't explain. He liked to imagine that it was similar to what his mother used to do, when Varian was just a baby. 

Rapunzel jumped a little when she touched his hand, but who could help it, the metal arm did get rather cold in the morning. He let go of Rapunzel's hand after a little while and turned to her, eyes downcast.

" I suppose I should tell you, you have a right to know." Rapunzel brought Varian to sit on a couple of the boxes, and smiled reassuringly at him.

" I know you keep telling me that if I ever needed any help, I should tell you, but I always figured that it was pointless, how can talking about feelings make them better?" She seemed shocked at this comment, so Varian hurried on. 

" I've just never felt really, there, since Quirin left, heck, I've never felt right since the whole thing started. But, I thought that I could get better, if he just, you know, wanted me again." He steadied his voice, it was wavering a little, which annoyed him, hadn't he spent long enough crying in the prison? He hadn't shed a tear since then, two whole years ago, even when his father had been freed, and then gone again, abandoning Varian. He distinctly remembered the disgust and horror that had crossed Quirins face, as he heard about what his son had done. He had left soon after, in the middle of the night, leaving a note behind. All it said was. " I will never be proud of what you are." 

He hadn't cried then, he hadn't really done anything. He was just, numb, for three months, only eating or sleeping when his friends forced him to. Soon after, he had been pulled from his state, by the threat of Cassandra. (The princess really wasn't very good at keeping friends) 

And after helping them destroy Zhan Tiri, by creating a portal, and forcing her inside, in an epic battle that had fourt- sorry, unfortunately cost the life of the king. He hadn't had time to feel sorry for himself, as he had been offered a job in the palace as the royal engineer. 

" And I know you and Eugene like me, why? I don't know, but you're the only ones who do, everyone else despises me. "

Rapunzel tried to protest, but he cut her off.

"No need to sugar coat it, it's the truth, the kingdom will never forgive me, and I've accepted that." He stood up, and walked to the barrier, the sands that separated the land from the sea. He stared out over it, breathing in the salty air.

" But out there, no one knows who I am, what I've done. " He whispered this, smiling.

" There I can start my life over again, I'm still young, there's still time. I'll be able to walk down the street and be greeted not by insults and fear, but by cheerful people, who love me, and want me there. Do you understand?" He asked hesitantly, Varian wasn't sure what the princess would think of his dream, it seemed stupid saying it aloud. 

_"You idiot, no one cares what you think, why don't you stay quiet like you're supposed to?!"_

He was grabbed behind by another hug, this one more protective than the last. He could hear her whispering as she held him.

" I'm so sorry, I had no idea you felt that way. You always seemed so happy, I should've known that it would be harder than I first believed, to help you win back the kingdoms trust, if you truly believe that leaving Corona will make you happy, then I won't stop you, all I want for you is to be happy, you know that right? I do love you, Varian, don't ever forget that."

He nodded, face buried into her shoulder, he was closer to crying than he liked, but nothing meant more to him than Rapunzel's words. No one had ever said that they cared for him that much in years, it was just what he needed to hear before he left, that if he ever wanted to return, there would be someone there waiting, and ready to take him in with open arms.

" Are you ready to go on the adventure of a lifetime?" Rapunzel asked after the hug had ended. Varian rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, the non-metal one, then grinned at her.

" I'm ready as I'll ever be" 


	2. On Our Way!/ An intro to Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey begins. This chapter also features an important OC,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this story will have some Varian angst, but it's all good, he'll (probably) work it out eventually, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I hope you like Grey as well, I had the idea for her character a while ago, and she fit in this story perfectly!

"Well buddy, we have officially left Corona!" Varian cried happily, 

Pulling on a few ropes, and turning the heat valve to the right. He and Ruddiger were flying over the ocean, and according to his maps and calculations, the border of his home kingdom lay below. 

" Finally! The whole world to ourselves! And nothing is ever going to stop us"

The racoon sat on his shoulder clinging to his master's neck nervously, they had never gone this high or far, and the small creature wasn't sure if he liked it.

"Come on, it's not that bad, we're only about," the boy peered out over the edge of his balloon.

"10,000 feet up, we could even go higher and still be fine, just enjoy the flight! "

A wind current came from beneath them, lurching the balloon. Ruddiger shrieked, scrambling down Varian's apron, and curling in a corner, trembling.

"Aw, bud, I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be this bad for you, come here" he sat cross-legged on the weaved floor, and beckoned for his pet to come sit with him.

Ruddiger seemed happy to do so, snuggling against Varian's cheek. 

The pair sat happily, eyes shut as the pure blue world sped by them, the air was warm for being so high in the atmosphere, the sky was cloudless, and the magnificent ocean spread out over a thousand miles ahead, made of a sapphire tinted glass, sparkling as the welcoming warm rats of the sun danced across it.

nothing could bother the two at that moment. They had been friends for years, and would no doubt continue to be each other's companionship and comfort for as long as they lived. A little twinge of dread flashed inside Varian, as his reasonable side reminded him that the racoon only had about 12 years left to live, and while that time was far away, it was approaching, and he would have to live most of his life without his best friend.

He squeezed Ruddiger tighter, causing the creature to let out a little yelp of alarm. His master was never this affectionate. 

" Sorry bud, I'll let you go, just, don't freak out about the balloon anymore, it's not that bad."

They continued on for another few uneventful days, Ruddiger eventually calmed down, and even began enjoying himself. He especially enjoyed the childish delight Varian took in running the mechanics of the balloon. He called out quotes from the Adventures of Flynn Rider as they flew. Pretending that the two of them were the swashbuckling hero on one of his adventures.

He also spent a lot of time working on his newest project, the PO2s, that is Project Obsidian .2 a more compact version of his first model that shot small metal objects with pointed ends. Varian had hidden this project from the princess as it was lethal. Just one shot could kill something or someone instantly. Especially if he coated it in his expanding compound, if he did that, once inside a person it would erupt, tearing the person apart from the inside.

Varian couldn't help but feel worried at this monster of a machine he had created, had he had a relapse in his recovery? And if so, would it get better soon, or as he feared. Continually worse.

946 miles away...

Grey stood in front of a towering structure, made of cold steel with a huge rotting barn door. Rain poured down the side of the building, creeping down the roof and slipping into small cracks. 

Cold dark and smelling of rust, this was her home.

She pushed the door open, grunting a little, "I really need to oil those hinges" Grey made her way inside, her shivering increasing as she saw the soaked fire pit. Stupid hole in the roof let the smoke out fine, but in torrents of rain like this, it was useless. 

"Might as well get to work" she muttered, as she pulled her long light grey hair back, and tied it into a loose bun. Grey scoped out the area, in search of an unfinished project, her home was filled to bursting with her machines, lined up in rows reaching to the ends of the thousand foot building.

She didn't stay here for comfort, no, what she cared about was her workshop. 

The blue eyed girl walked along the rows of metal, letting the tips of her fingers rest on each machine as she passed by. None of them were the same, they varied from simple things, like a teapot, to a robotic dog, she even had a few bulldozers of different sizes.

None of them interested her today though, she was looking for something more original, but useful.

"Ah, here we go!" Near the end of the third row, she found the perfect project, Grey had forgotten about it since she had started it last year, but she was cold, wet, and a little less than happy. Why not have another go? 

Pulling her brown sleeves back, and fetching a wrench, hammer, and a few electromagnetic nails from one of the huge pockets on her beige skirt, she knelt down beside the long, sleek machine and got to work, the gears in her brain running like a well oiled factory. Her gloved hands worked, adjusting, hammering and twisting it, until she knelt back, her Apple cap sitting awry on her head.

Flicking a few switches, and giving it a good hard wack, as she always did. The steel board lifted up, a foot in the air, a happy little whirring coming from the magnetic panels on the bottom. The teen hesitantly stepped on, struggling to keep her balance, then leaned slightly forward.

The hoverboard flew, a million miles an hour towards the far wall. Grey screamed as it came bearing on her, threatening to smush her against the metal. Thinking on her feet, she dove to the side, crashing into a pile of loose wood scraps. The board continued into the wall, hitting it with a deafening clang of metal on metal" _Well yay for me,_ " she thought as she pulled herself, wincing, from the pile.

_" Now I have a million splinters to get out, plus another thousand hours to train flying on that stupid board."_

A little voice inside her protested, that Grey could just go to sleep, right here in this woodpile and leave everything for tomorrow. " It would be so much easier to do it later, after a good nights sleep don't you think?" Ugh, it was so tempting! But she shook her head, chasing those thoughts away. Grey hadn't survived this long on the streets by giving into temptation. She had given herself a job and by all that is holy she would finish it. Her narrow face, hardened by her experiences, turned into a look of determination.

Hauling herself out, she half crawled across the cement floor, reaching the board after what felt like ages, the fall had done more that give her splinters, she realized as she approached the board. The fresh bruises lining her back stung as much as anything, and she was almost positive she had cracked a rib, shark it, she also hadn't made it this long by being an idiot .

Flinging it in the direction of the dead fire, she made her way to the wet coals, and stacked a pile of sticks on them, the rain had halted fortunately. Grey gave herself a little pat on the back for remembering to gather them beforehand.

She shook her lighter, (one of Grey's most useful inventions)

before flicking it on, holding it over the smallest twigs, until the flames latched on consuming the sticks slowly.

Grey watched, as it started to produce warmth, agonizingly slow. Her impatience got the best of her, and she poured a stream of alcohol from her small flask on the small flames. 

A few minutes later, she lay, asleep next to the roaring flames. her hard features melted into an almost cherubic state as she slept. Barely covered in a threadbare blanket with no pillow or matress at all. " _Tomorrow"_ She had decided " _I'll take care of my injuries, then figure out the board." And then maybe, get something to eat, it's been a few days, and I'm starving._


	3. We Made it Buddy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Ruddiger arrive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the late chapter, I've been trying to upload every week, but I've been busy, the chapter is pretty short, and not the best quality, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!!

Varian and Ruddiger spotted the first sign of land early in the morning, a line of dark cliffs peeked out from under the sunset, giving them both a renewed determination. 

" This has got to be it! In my maps it says that this country is very technologically dependant, maybe I could be of some use here!" Varian commented excitedly to his pet, as he started to lower them down, closer to the ground but not enough to reach the tips of the trees in the forest up ahead. 

They continued on for another few days, these ones far more fascinating than the ones spent flying over the ocean. They passed a few towns, all just a few small clusters of houses tucked into the vast forest of fir trees, or some type of variety of that tree. 

"Whaddya say Ruddiger? Should we take a stop at the next town? Get to know this country a little bit better?"

He was met with an enthusiastic squeak. 

"Now we just need to find a clearing, oh, like that!" He spotted one about a thousand feet away, big enough to fit the balloon with about three hundred feet of grass to spare.

Varian turned the valve, keeping a close eye on it and the ground.

"Ok, now, the trick is to go slowly, descending until, gah! The bottom slammed against the tops of a few tall trees he hadn't spotted. 

The top of the balloon moved forward, tilting the basket.

Varian cried out in alarm, trying to grab his supplies before they fell to the forest floor. He missed a few bottles, and flinched as he heard the explosions from below. Turning back to the situation at hand, he noticed the two bottles of flynolium inching their out of the small crate they were held in, the cork of the first had been loosened, and a trickle of neon green liquid crept out, way to close to the flame pushing the balloon forward, it started to sizzle.

_I have to get off before this thing blows!_

Getting ahold of his pet and his bag of essentials, he leaped from the basket, a jolt of fear pulsing through him as he caught a glimpse of the ground, over a hundred feet below him. He had to grab a tree branch, quickly.

A limb caught his eye, close enough to grab, but it was the only one close enough, if he missed it, they were done for.

_Come on! Don't mess this up!_

Using the weight of his bag, he lunged himself towards it, barley managing to grab a hold of it.

Holding on for dear life, Varian watched as his balloon erupted into flames, a variety of colors engulfed it as each of the left behind chemicals were consumed, in moments, his months of work was gone, all because of another stupid mistake he had made. How would he fix this one? 

" _Alright, grieve later, right now I have to put out those flames before they burn down the whole forest._

Scrambling quickly further Into the branches of his tree, settling on a sturdy branch, Varian searched his bag, and in a few moments pulled a large flask of a bright red chemical, this would put out the flames for sure.

"Ruddiger, you need to drop this in the balloon, as close as you can get" 

The racoon looked at him then at the flaming monster in the branches nearby in disbelief.

"I-I know, it's not gonna be easy, but I know you can do it, I'll be here if you need help, but if you don't do this, we will both die." Ruddiger hesitated for another moment, then gave a determined squeak, and grabbed the flask from his boy's hand. Holding the chemical in his mouth. 

Leaping from branch to branch, trying to get as close as he could to the fire, Ruddiger stopped ten yards away, the overbearing heat was scorching his grey fur, there was no way he could get closer, if he did he was sure to be burned to death. Ruddiger looked back at his master sadly, the boy wasn't that far away, and the fire was spreading quickly. If he didn't do anything, Varian wouldn't survive, no, he wouldn't let that happen. His master would make it wether Ruddiger got out alive or not. He had been there for Varian for years, during his darkest times, when he was alone and broken, Varian only friend. And he had been with him when he was at his highest, a bright young inventor who just wanted to help his kingdom and friends. Ruddiger loved his boy, and he wouldn't let him down now. 

Back in the branches of the lower tree Varian stared up at his pet, the fire had grown too much, the plan wouldn't work, he needs to get back here before he gets hurt

"Come back! We'll find another way!" He wasn't sure if Ruddiger had heard him, either way, he would know to return, wouldn't he? 

Ruddiger dove into the flames, the agonizing heat burning him, the world turned into one of chaos, colors flashing around him, glass, as bottles exploded flew all around him, slicing into him. The animal barely managed to hold back his cries of pain, but his determination drove him on. He spotted the basket, or the remains of it at least, in a few moments, although it felt like it had been hours since he had entered this hell. 

Ripping the cork off of his flask, flinching as his scorched paws touched the burning hot glass. Ruddiger dropped it into the center. Closing his eyes. The chances of him surviving this, even if the fire was extinguished were minimal, he knew. But that was ok, Varian was safe now, and that's all that mattered.

"No!! Come back! We can find another way!!" Ruddiger had entered the fire moments ago, and he hadn't come back yet, 

Come on buddy, please you don't have to do this, I was being an idiot, there has to be another way, just come back, please!

A loud hiss came from the flames, and they dissapated quickly, the chemical had worked! Ruddiger had done it! 

"Ruddiger!! I can't believe it! You're incredible!!" Varian inched his way closer to the charred remains of the balloon, desperately searching for his pet, but he was nowhere to be seen. 

"R-Ruddiger?" His voice broke a little, but he held back the tears that threatened to show.

_He has to be alive! He has to be ok!_

He called again, but still no response came. 

_He must need help! Don't worry bud, I'm on my way_.

He fought through the branches that separated him from his friend, it took him ages to get there, but nearly half an hour later he made it, balancing on the skeleton of his balloon. Varian spotted his pet, lying a few feet away from the basket, he made his way over, concern increasing by the second, Varian scooped up Ruddiger in his arms, the poor creatures once soft fur, had burned into a brittle black. Varian clung to him, and searched desperately for any kind of life, but none was there. Ruddiger, his best friend was gone. And it had been Varian's fault. 


	4. The Star Crystal/ The intruder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian tries to comprehend the death of his best friend, and Grey's home is broken into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, I will resume my posting on Tuesday's, but I felt like I should try and post this one sooner, as an apology for missing last week.
> 
> The story will progress a little quickly in the beginning to get things going, buy slow down to a more moderate speed soon. 
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Grey lay back on her bedroll, eyes shut tightly as she tried to ignore her aching body. She had fallen off her board more than a hundred times in the week she had trained on it, her promise of food to herself had gone unfulfilled, almost breaking her record of time without eating. But finally she had figured out the stupid thing, and could cruise around on her board without any struggle. 

She was about to drift off, when her stomach growled furiously. 

_I really should fetch something to gnaw on at least._

Groaning, she picked herself up, and gazed lazily at the door. It was a beautiful morning, and the rays of the sun would help soothe her back, but getting to them required moving, Grey sighed, might as well get it over with

She hauled herself up, and glanced at her hoverboard,

_should I take it?_

After a moment of consideration, she pushed the silly thought away, it would be inevitably stolen If she decided to take it outside of the building, this whole neighborhood was rampant in crime, and she couldn't trust that her belongings were safe unless they were kept in here, she trusted her twenty-two traps more than any living person. 

She reluctantly left the building, plodding along the narrow cobblestone streets, Grey thanked whatever God happened to be out there that she wouldn't have to beg today, a few weeks ago, she had managed to sell a mechanical mouse to a child for a few coins, Grey hoped it was enough for a meal. 

Standing at the edge of her alley, The teenager took a deep breath as she prepared to mingle with the thousands of people in the huge main road, hundreds of vendors called out, trying to sell their wares, with another thousand people answering their calls, and practically throwing their money at them in exchange for food, clothes and trinkets. The occasional wack job stood on soapboxes, or ran from person to person, preaching something or other, and countless orphan kids wandered among the wealthy, pleading for a bite to eat. Grey used to be among the last group, years ago when she was only 5, she had learned since then, of her ability to work with wires and metal, turn junk into something useful. It had saved her life.

She pushed through the crowd and stopped at the cheapest vendor she could find, his wares didn't look high quality, but she would probably get enough for a few meals here, even if they weren't good ones. 

Grey placed the coins on the counter, biting her lip nervously, she hated business transactions, you never knew what was going to happen.

"How much will this get me?"

The vendor scoffed at her trivial amount, 

"dat? No more than half a loaf of bread!" 

"Only a half loaf?! That's crazy!" She narrowed her eyes at him, "The other guy gave me a whole loaf for half as much! And they were of much higher quality!" She jabbed a finger in his rather uncomfortably soft and sweaty chest praying he didn't see through her lie.

"I think I'll go buy from him instead." She turned to walk away. 

_And a-three, a-two and a one_.

"Wait!" The man called from behind her, 

_There we go_

Grey turned back to him, " What do you want?" 

He pulled two loaves of bread from a crate, 

"Don't go to the other guy, please, I need business, you can have these for your money, just please, don't go."

She placed the loaves in her satchel, gave a quick tip of her hat to him, then sped as fast as she could, back to her workshop. Ugh, that was stressful, and ow, should not have run, my bruises are still bad.

She popped open her hidden control panel on the side of the building, pulling away the lichen to access it. And turned off the traps.

_Now finally, I can eat, dress my bruises again, sleep, than do some work, sounds like an absolutely perfect da-_

A voice broke into her thoughts, what sounded like a young man wailing. 

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!! What sort of phsyco shoots arrows at people?"

_What the._.

Grey peeked into the room, and saw, to her horror, a neatly cut, brown haired fancily dressed kid huddled on the floor, with two roughly made arrows sticking out of his back. He looked up at her, pain glistening in his bright green eyes.

"Please," the boy whined, his voice strained from what looked like crying. "Help me" 

_Well, there goes my perfect day._

"Please, no, I-I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen!" 

Varian huddled in the branches of the burned tree, face half buried in Ruddigers still body.

_This was meant to be our adventure, he can't die before it even begins!_

A warm breeze blew over them, making the few tears that had come from Varian's closed eyes apparent to him. 

_No, I can't cry, h-he's not dead, he can't be, it's impossible._

He knew his fight to prove to himself that his raccoon wasn't gone, was futile, but he couldn't help it. 

He loosened his grip on Ruddiger, so that he lay on his lap, Varian could almost imagine that he was asleep, cuddled on his master's lap while the boy read one of his textbooks, just like they had done for years. 

Varian's hand started to shake as he stroked his pets fur, from grief, stress, strain or all three, he couldn't tell.

_Would it really be such a bad thing to cry?_

It was a sign of weakness, yes, and it wouldn't help the situation at all. But for some reason, Varian found himself doing it anyways. Crying into the approaching night, for Ruddiger, for the home he had left behind, for the friends he had abandoned, and the father who had never wanted him at all.

A sudden voice came from below.

"Why are you crying? In a tree of all places?" 

Wait, someone heard me? Varian quickly wiped away the tears streaming down his face, and peeked out of the branches, to see a strange girl looking curiously up at him,

She had a darkly tanned face, with striking violet eyes, her dress was pure white, reaching to her calves, with droopy sleeves, buttoned tightly to her throat. The most startling feature was her hair, a pale wavy purple, reaching a little past her shoulders. 

"W-who are you?" He called down, his voice slightly shaking.

" I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell strangers." She said, sounding a little conflicted. " Come down here and tell me more about yourself, so we can be friends, and not strangers!" 

Varian considered, why did this strange girl think it alright to talk to crying strangers in trees? Any normal person would run the other way. But by the look of her, she definitely wasn't normal. Should he go down? His emotions weren't very stable at the moment. 

"Um, are you coming or not?" The girl yelled up at him. He hesitated, unable to think of a reply. 

"Fine then, I'm going up there instead!" And indeed, she grabbed the lowest branch, and started to climb her way up the tree. All Varian could do was stare at her in confusion. There was definitely something wrong with this kid.

Finally she reached his branch, and looked him over with a critical eye. 

"Well, you certainly are a mess, aren't you." He glanced down at his clothes, and they were kind of a mess, soot covered him, his clothes were torn, and his face was equally as covered in scratches from his leap off of the balloon. 

"I-I guess" 

" Well they are, and why are you holding a dead cat?"

Varian bit back a sob that threatened to show at the mention of his pet, and instead snapped at her. 

" What does any of this have to do with you?"

She shrugged, barely phased.

" I figured that I'd help you out, you seem nice."

_Nice?_

All that she had seen from him, was that he was an emotional wreck with a bad temper who sat in trees with dead animals. Either this girl was an idiot, had really bad judgement, or both. 

" Let's see, first let me take care of that animal, how long ago did it die?"

" Half an hour ago, but how could you hel-"

She held up a quieting finger, then pressed in into Ruddigers fur, and started to sing.

**Crystal shining bright**

**Guide me through the night**

**Restore the gleaming shine**

**And bring back the missing time.**

**The missing time**

Ruddigers fur started to lighten again, the soot disappearing, and the cuts dissolving. Varian stared in astonishment, as his pet opened his eyes, and let out an alarmed squeak.

"Ruddiger!!" His pet looked up at him, then leaped into his arms, Varian held him tightly, laughing in delight, 

_He's back!!_

After their joyful reunion was over, Varian looked back to the girl, how had she done that? It was oddly similar to Rapunzel's abilities, but her powers were gone now, as well as the Moonstone, and there wasn't mention of any other stone on the scroll. 

"W-who are you?" 

She laughed, and smiled at him.

" I am Celeste, the Star Crystal."


	5. The Fancy Boy/ Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grey tries to figure out who the intruder is, and Varian tries to learn more about this girl with abilities so much like the Sundrop's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, ( I mean, it's still technically Tuesday, right?) Thanks again for reading!

"Please, help!" The boy repeated, as if he hadn't just intruded into her home.

"And why should I?" She stood over him, hands on hips, glaring down at the kid.

" Because I'm hurt!" She glanced at the arrows

" Those aren't fatal, and anyway, you broke in! What were you gonna do, huh? Steal from me?" He looked up at her, clearly shocked at the idea

." N-no! Of course not! I just wanted a place to sleep!" He panted out. Grey turned to walk away,

_Why should I help this kid? He broke in, and ruined my day with his fancy- wait_

She turned back to him,"Who are you?"

He froze for a second, hesitating to answer.

"Well, fancy boy?"

"I'm Frank" he averted her gaze, face turning red clearly lying.

" Well, I don't offer help to liers, so, you better crawl yourself out of here and-"

His face turned to one of panic "No, just, fine, I'll tell you, but you've got to keep it a secret"

Grey rolled her eyes, "fine, whatever."

He took a breath to speak, then winced, whimpering. "Could you get the arrows out first? Please?"

"Fine, hold still, I need to get some hot water and bandages."

She made her way to her burnt out fire, there were still a couple hot coals left

_Good, I won't have to start another one for the brat_

She picked them up with tongs, dropping the orange rocks into her bucket of drinking water.

_So much for that_

Collecting her bandages from the night before, she strode back over to "Frank"

" Turn your back to me, and close your eyes, this'll hurt" Grey told him as she cut open the back of his shirt, he obliged. Pressing a hot washcloth against his skin, she slowly pulled the arrow out, trying to burn out any possible infection. He cried out in pain as she did so, a bloodcurdling yell that almost deafened her.

"There!" Grey held up the arrow, the tip still wet with blood.

"Oh, thank goodness" the boy gasped, eyes still clamped shut.

" With the first arrow fancy boy, there are still two more."

He groaned. " Just get it over with"

She nodded and went on with it, getting the second,then third arrow out. It took nearly an hour. He had quieted down by the end, too exhausted to even cry. He had fallen unconscious by the time she finished bandaging him up.

_I guess I can figure out who he is tomorrow, poor kid is completely passed out_.

She lay her only blanket over him, tucking it under his head as well, so he had some sort of pillow.

_Why am I being so nice to the brat again?_

Grey huddled next to the sparks of a fire she had made an attempt to start an hour ago, but never quite took off. A small jingle came from his direction, as a few of the silver buttons on his coat clicked against one another.

_Oh yeah, he's definitely wealthy, I'm sure his parents will pay a nice sum of money to the person who oh, so kindly gave him a place to sleep. Money, good food, comfortable clothes_

The thought of it was warmer than the softest blanket, and Grey soon fell asleep.

"Star Crystal?" Varian asked, peering at her inquisitively. He was internally freaking out, but he couldn't show her that, he had to keep himself composed. " Is that somehow connected to the Moonstone and Sundrop?"

Celeste shrugged. "I dunno, why the questions? I figured you'd already have been given the rundown."

"Rundown?"

"Yeah, aren't you part of the North Star Gathering?"

T _he what?_

"Uh, no?" Her face paled slightly. "T-then what are you doing in these woods? Oh my gosh, Dad is gonna kill me! I'm not supposed to talk to people outside the Gathering, I have to go!" She started to scramble down the tree, Varian came after her. He had to know more.

"No, wait! Celeste!" He reached an arm out to grab a hold of her hand, his sleeve ripped as he reached, caught on a sharp branch, revealing his metal arm. She screamed when she spotted it, calling for help into the dark wood.

"Dad! Please! He's trying to capture me!"

_Capture her? Why would I-_ "What? No! I just want to talk!" She refused to stop yelling, and soon escaped his grasp, running deeper into the forest, he heard her calling as she disappeared. "Father! The monster is trying to kill me!" She was definitely exaggerating to her apparent father, but the words still hurt, he thought he had escaped the mockery and insults, but the first person he had met here, had run from him screaming. But why? What did I do? Was it because of this? Varian held his arm up in front of him.

_It isn't my fault it's like this, Rapunzel was the one to cut me with the rocks when she pierced my controllable Automaton, It was her fau_ -

Wait, what was he thinking? It wasn't her fault, it was his for attacking her, why had that thought come to him? He shook his head, annoyed at himself, why did his mind from all those years ago have to try to take over now? Might as well resume my original plan Going to the nearby city, about twenty miles away, walking now that his balloon had been destroyed.

"Come on Ruddiger, let's get a move on"

_he needed to collect his supplies, then start his journey in the morning._

_Hopefully bumping into the Star girl again, if I don't see her by the time I reach the city, that's the next place I'm going._

By the time he had gathered everythingsalvageable up, it was nearly midnight, and he was exhausted. He lay on a branch, about 7 feet off the ground, his reanimated raccoon cuddled up next to him. _Tomorrow buddy, is when the real adventure begins._


	6. Three years ago/ I want to have and adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback episode for Varian, What the Hair from his prospective. 
> 
> And Grey's storyline continued

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be quite a few flashback episodes, once every five chapters, or three, or ten. Heck I'll do flashbacks when I want to, don't judge.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

" Varian, wake up"

His father's voice spoke over his bed, sounding gruff, and slightly annoyed, but that was, unfortunately, typically how he sounded when he spoke to his son

Varian sat up, head slumped, he was exhausted, he had stayed up until the early morning perfecting a combination of chemicals for one of his projects, he glanced at his home made clock sitting by his bed, one of his first creations, made about ten years ago

_6:30! I've only slept for an hour._

"Well? Are you just going to sit there all day? Get a move on, you're nearly a man now, you should be able to get yourself up, I've never seen a lazier boy." Quirin left, shaking his head, and his son looked after him sadly, stung by the comment

_Can't I do anything right?_

He crawled out of bed, already dressed from the night before, gloves still on, and goggles still resting loosely on his head, never having bothered getting into his bedclothes

_If I get my chores done by 2:00, that'll give me plenty of time to work on the heating tanks, shouldn't be a problem, right?_

He made his way down the stairs, and into the kitchen, his father had already left, leaving an apple and slice of buttered bread on the table for Varian

_Butter too? I thought he was mad at me_

He picked the food up, and noticed a note underneath, quickly written, as if an afterthought

Happy 14th birthday

_Oh yeah! I completely forgot_

He had turned 14 and not realized it, Varian made a quick note to himself, to thank his father for the reminder

Later that day, after he had finished with some of the planting, fed the animals, and made lunch, a fresh loaf of bread and a fizzy drink he had made with fruit and carbonation. Varian managed to sneak down to the tunnels, tank 3 needed some work, it had made some strange noises lately, and hadn't been triggering the green chemical he had made for that purpose

_Maybe if I adjusted 43b, it would heat the right way, I did kind of rush the building of that_

He settled down to work, happily adjusting the tank to work the right way, after that he figured that he should have some fun, it was his birthday after all. What should he make though? Smoke bombs were always fun, he had made hundreds of those though, he could modify them, change the color maybe?

_Perfect! It'll be like an explosion of colors!_

Varian inspected his supplies

_Let's see, I have red, green, yellow, and pink. That should be plenty_

He sprinkled about three ounces of colored powder in each vial of smoke bomb formula. It didn't take long

_Alright, now, showtime_

He set the helmet he used for the most toxic experiments on his head, as well as putting on heavy coat. This would be messy, and Quirin wouldn't be happy If Varian came to dinner with a rainbow colored face

Varian slammed vial upon vial on the ground, 7 in total, and at first, it was indeed a wonderful variety of color, but it soon blended into a purpleish pink, floating about the room in a creepy manner. It had only just started to die down, when he heard the door creak open, Varian had a mild panic attack, praying that it wasn't his father, if he saw Varian's workshop like this, he was sure to get mad. But no, it was a woman's voice

"Fine, a booby trap!

Then a second woman, this one sounding a little older

"Everything is gonna be ok Raps"

_Who were these people._

"What do you want?" He asked, then hesitated, a little nervous, his helmet amplified and deepened his voice, hopefully he wouldn't scare them away. Especially since they had apparently gotten caught in one of his racoon traps

" Uh-well I was hoping that I could ask you about my hair, since you are such a magic exper-"

Oh, so they had heard that rumor, well, it was better than some, but still very inaccurate

"Magic? I do not work, with magic!" He lifted his helmet, realizing that it would be less alarming he spoke to them without the thing

"I mean, technically its alchemy, but, eh, don't sweat it."

As he spoke, he inspected his guests, the black haired woman was absolutely beautiful, but what caught his attention, was the younger one, her hair, it was a bright blonde, and bizarrely long, just like..

_Oh my gosh! It's the princess! The princess is in my workshop, and she wants my help! Finally, I can do something good, I can't wait to see the look on dad's face! He'll be so proud_

Three years later, over two thousand miles away, in the city of Malik

Grey stood over the kid, waiting. He was still asleep, though the sun had risen hours ago.

_Lazy Bum_

She was tempted to kick him awake, an evil thought to be sure, perhaps crossing the line she had promised herself she wouldn't go over, of becoming like the thugs that roamed around the city

So, she left him for now, and went to work on a couple of her projects. Working maybe a little louder than usual

Why should he have the right to sleep an extra three hours?

She progressively banged louder and louder with her mallet, hitting the poor nails harder than necessary, breaking a couple of the more rusted ones.

Still it took the kid a few minutes to wake up, he winced at each of the pounds

"Ugh, do you really have to do that so early in the morning?

Grey glanced at her homemade clock, it read 10am

" I'll work as loud and as early as I want fancy boy, you don't have any right to order me around 

She resumed her pounding, quieter this time.

The girl couldn't focus though, she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was staring at her, and sure enough, when she turned around, there he was, eyes glued to her

"What? You want food or something?

He shook his head, glancing away

"N-no, Sorry

"Good, cause I'm not giving you any" He resumed his stare as soon as she turned away from him.

This kid is the most irritating thing I have ever met

"Um, not to be rude, but how did you get that?

What kind of question was that?

"Get what? Fancy boy?"

He pointed at her hair

"It's grey," She gave him an exaggerated gasp, holding out her locks before her, as if they were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen

" It is? Really? I had no idea!" He ignored her and continued

"But how did it get like that? grey isn't that normal a hair color

Grey shrugged, " I know it's not normal, I have no idea how I got it, and that's why I used it as a name, I find it so much simpler to call people by a defining characteristic, than by a random sound.

He seemed intrigued by this

" So what is your name? Hair?

" No, Grey, what kind of a name is hair?" She shook her head at the ridiculousness of someone named Hair

" Regardless, you know my name, and I still don't know yours, I won't promise to use it, but if it's decent, I might."

He sighed, and struggled to his feet, arm pressed against his wounds from the night before, Grey noticed a small amount of blood staining the white cloth, she made a note to herself to change those later

Clearing his throat he spok

" I am Prince Thomas Clearblade, heir to the kingdom of Siih, and first son to King Leonard, long may he reign.

Holy crap! This guy is a prince?

Grey quickly fell to the ground, kneeling before him

" I'm sorry for not recognizing you, your highness, please forgive me for insulting you.

He seemed to be made uncomfortable by this, and shook his head

" No, no, it's fine, that was kind of the point. Please get up.

She did so, head still bent slightly

"What do you mean, your highness?

He walked over to her, limping.

" Well, you see, I don't exactly enjoy being the prince. I really just want to be an adventurer.

Grey had to keep herself from laughing, The fancy b- Thomas, clearly had no idea what life was like, people didn't usually become Adventurers by choice, and those who did, were bat-crazy

"An adventurer, really?

"Yeah!" He straightened himself up as tall as he could, which was nearly 6 feet, he was clearly taller than that, although his injuries prohibited him from reaching his full height

" I will do it too! Slay monsters, protect pretty girls from bandits, maybe even save the world one day, who knows!

Grey looked him up and down, he was pathetic at the moment, hurt, a little scrawny looking, though there were some muscles, he was at the awkward teenage stage where he wasn't a child, but not quite a man.

" Oh really? Cause so far, you've been caught in some traps, and depended on a pretty girl to keep you alive.

He slumped a little, and looked sadly at her

"I know, I know, I haven't gotten off to a great start, but you'll see! I'll do great things, just you wait.

Rolling her eyes, Grey went to her food shelf, and cut slices of bread for the two of them

" Not to get your hopes down or anything, but you should probably think this stuff through before you rush into it.

She handed a slice to him, sure she had said she that she wouldn't feed him before, but he was the prince, she couldn't let him starve

" What if you had run into some thugs instead of me? You would've been dead right now.

Thomas bit into the bread happily, then grimaced

"What's in this?

Grey shrugged, " flour, water, probably some sawdust.

He made another disgusted face, then handed it back to her

" I'll just eat later." She took it, and stuck it in her pocket, she would have it for lunch

"Suit yourself"

He sat back down, cross legged, on the stone floor, looking a little sad, Grey had smothered his determination a bit.

Ugh, now I feel ba

"Hey, it's not the end of the world, I'm sure you can still adventure, just maybe get some of the skills you need before you leave home."

He gave her a happy smile

"Thanks, that means a lot, you seem to know alot about this stuff.

" I know a little about city life, if that's what you mean.

He hesitated for a moment, thinking

"What?

He looked at her, with a pleading look in his eyes

" Can you teach me?"

_Ooh boy, what have I gotten myself into_


	7. The Mechanic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where Varian meets Grey and Thomas,

Varian and Ruddiger arrived at the city gates near the end of the next day, it was far different from anything he had seen. The gates were made of pure steel, glinting in the fading sun, the buildings behind it, were immensely tall, reaching over two hundred feet in the air, and packed in with each other for as far as he could see. The streets were filled with people, in an odd type of clothing. Not the colorful simple garments that everyone back home wore, no, these ones were extravagant, wide skirted dresses, equivalent to the most luxurious ballgown, with shawls draped over every womans back. The men's clothing was just as fancy, tuxedos with white gloves and ten inch top hats. Many held canes as well, although it looked like they didn't need the support. Those people were so overwhelming, it took Varian a few moments to see the other half of the population, they were very poorly dressed, as if the clothes they had worn, had been torn by a hoard of rats with muddy claws. He could see dozens of children huddled at the edges of each street, shivering from the oncoming night, he could see, even from here, their sunken faces, and tired eyes. 

Varian sat at the entrance for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, no one appeared to be at the gate, should he just walk in? 

" Boy! Come here, I require your assistance!" 

He jumped at the voice, and searched for the source, they couldn't be talking to him, right? 

" Are you deaf? Come here, I said!" He spotted the source, a middle aged man, in an insanely extravagant outfit, his outfit was glided with what looked like real gold. He was pointing directly at Varian.

"Oh! Uh, me?"

The man nodded, and beckoned. Not sure what else to do, Varian obliged, and walked over. Shutting his bag, Covering Ruddiger, who was sleeping in there.

" You see my wife over there?" Varian looked where the man pointed, and saw a woman, about the same age, standing next to a pile of bags and hatboxes. Outside a wealthy store labeled **Fredrickson's Daywear**. 

"Yeah" Varian waved and she nodded back.

"Well, the boy I hired to carry them for us took the money and ran away, I need another, you'll do"

The boy shrugged, why not, it would be nice to make some money, and it wouldn't be that hard.

"How much am I getting?"

The man laughed, as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

" I told you, I already payed the other boy, I don't intend to pay another slum rat to carry packages for me. You will do it for free."

"What?!" That was ridiculous, Varian turned to walk away, but was grabbed by the sleeve before he could disappear into the crowd.

" Do it, or else a certain boy, will be arrested for the theft of twenty sharpen" 

Was he blackmailing him? 

" But I didn't take any of your money!"

"Oh? And who do you think the judge will believe more, a man of high esteem, such as myself? Or a dirty street rat." 

They met each others eyes for a moment, both angry.

_Of course, He is in control, for no reason, other than his wealth._

Varian sighed and walked over to the woman, reluctantly picking up the packages, they were fairly light, although the ribbons kept getting in his face.

He followed the couple, trying to keep them in sight, they didn't slow down for him, and he found them getting farther and farther away from him. Eventually, he wasn't sure if the people he was following was the couple at all, he could barely see anything. He finally managed to catch sight of the couple he had been following, and his heart sank, it was a very young pair, definitely not the two he was supposed to be with.

_I need to get out of this street, get my plans in order, then try to find them again, this is not what I had planned at all_.

He spotted an alley, and stumbled into it. It ended up being a small side street, leading to a cluster of old storage sheds, most of them looked abandoned. 

Varian dropped the packages, and took a deep breath, trying to work through what had just happened. 

If he couldn't find them, he would be labeled a thief, Becoming wanted, again. 

He sighed, and slumped against the road wall, no one in the street outside noticed him. That was good, he didn't want to draw any more attention.

" No! You idiot! That's the wrong way!" Who was that? 

Varian heard the voice, a young girl, yelling at something or someone. 

" Sorry! I'm doing the best I can! You should have markers or something to show what the right side is!" A boy.

"Well I wasn't planning on having you ride it!" 

They sounded close, coming from one of the storage buildings. He crept over to listen more closely, and maybe see who they were. 

" You were the one to offer to teach me to ride"

"Only because you begged to!"

One of the doors on the third building were open, and Varian peeked through the door. He saw two kids there, about his own age, one, a young man, stood on a piece of metal, and the other, a girl with Grey hair, was yelling at him about it. 

What the heck?

" Get off fancy boy, let me show you." She pushed him off, and stepped on the metal, she twisted her feet, and something clicked, in a moment, the metal had lifted into the air, a loud whirring noise coming off of it. 

"Watch, you lean this way, and it moves, if you lean the other way, like you were doing, it brakes."

She demonstrated, moving her body forward, and the board moved along with her.

Who was she? Did she make that? It was amazing!

"That's what I did!" The "fancy boy" was staring up at her annoyed.

" No, you leaned back, cause you're a coward." She flew around him, gliding with ease.

Varian felt like he should say something, he had been watching them for a long time, it would be awkward if they spotted him first.

"Hi there!" He spoke, his voice a little high, from excitement he had no clue who this girl was, but she was clearly an inventor, the tools in her apron, and the grease smears on her face were a good indication.

The two froze, and slowly turned to look at him. 

" Who are you?"

Grey stared at the kid who had just walked in, for a moment, she panicked, had her traps not worked?

Then she remembered, Grey had never gotten the chance to set them back up after Thomas had arrived.

He responded to her question happily.

"I'm Varian! How did you make that?"

_Well, that's an unexpected question._

" Mechanical stuff you wouldn't understand, what are you doing here? This is my home, and I think you just intruded."

He didn't seem to notice the last sentence, Varian simply walked over to her board and studied it for a second.

" It looks like it is powered by a magnetic force, I'm not sure how, unless there was a counter force pushing against it from beneath." 

_Wait, what did he say? Did he actually understand this stuff?_

" Well, the floor here is made of the metal I needed, so that was simple, But again, what are you doing here?"

He looked up at her, and his face flushed a little.

" Oh, right sorry, I just arrived in the city, I heard voices, so I figured I'd check it out. I hope you're not too mad at me for intruding."

She shrugged, " I'm getting used to it," with a sideways glare at Thomas, who gave her an innocent smile in response.

A furry head poked out of his bag, a raccoon.

"Why do you have that in your bag?"

" He's my friend, don't mind him, Ruddiger is very well behaved." It leapt from the bag, and ran to her food storage shelf, where it started to gnaw on her remaining bread. Varian ran after him and took it from his pet.

"Well, most of the time."

"Sure, anyways, where are you from?" 

"Corona, you, uh, most likely haven't heard of it"

She shook her head, Grey had no idea where that was.

Thomas nodded. " Yeah I know about it, the kingdom does a lot of trading with Corona."

Varian looked a little nervous for a second. " You, uh, don't know anything else about it though, right?"

" No, not really, some Warlock attacked it a while back or something, right? What was that like?"

He calmed down, and started to tell Thomas about it, the story was rather interesting, although rushed, especially the fact that they didn't seem to punish the Warlock after she was defeated.

"The princess sounds like an idiot." Grey commented, as Varian finished. He seemed surprised and a little offended.

" No! Rapunzel is wonderful, she's just very forgiving."

" Forgiving? How many people lost their homes because of her." Varian thought about it for a second.

"About 480"

"How much did the repairs cost?"

"I'm not sure, about 700 gold at least, per House not including the castle repairs."

" And how much did the Warlock help repair, or how much did she pay to fix everything?"

" Nothing, she just kinda left."

Thomas cut into the conversation. " Does it really matter Grey? It was a story about friendship and forgiveness."

Grey sniffed, " I think it matters, and I also think that she should have had life in prison, or execution."

Varian was about to protest, but she started talking again before he could say anything.

" Regardless, I still don't know why you are here, give me one reason I should let you stay, I already have one big baby to take care of, why should I keep another?"

" Well, you're an inventor, right?" Grey nodded.

" Mechanic to be exact."

Varian sighed, and took off one of his gloves, showing a hand and arm made of metal, he moved it, opening and closing it, to show that it worked.

Grey grabbed it, and looked it over, eyes wide.

" This is really cool! Who made it?"

"I did" 

_Really? That's impressive, I've never met another mechanic before._

" You make things like this a lot?"

" Occasionally, only when I need to, I prefer Alchemy."

"Alchemy? Sounds boring." He gave her an arrogant smile, and pointed the arm towards the closest wall. Then activated something. A pink ball shot out, and slammed against the metal surface. It exploded in a rainbow of colors, and once the smoke cleared, she saw that the wall was now covered in a pink goop. She went to poke it with her finger, it got stuck, and no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn't let her go.

" Well, gee, thanks, now my wall is covered in sticky stuff, I really appreciate it." Varian sprinkled his dissolving solution on the goop, as Thomas laughed at her.

"Fine, you can stay," Varian brightened up.

"As long as you make some more of that stuff to use as traps for the entrance, it's pretty useful."

He nodded happily, " I'll just get my equipment set up, and I'll make you some, " he settled on the ground, and started to unload his backpack full of little bottles and tubes.

Grey left him to it, pulling Thomas to the side. 

" Do you think it was a good idea to let him stay?" He asked,

She heard a small explosion behind them.

" Oops! Sorry!"

She sighed.

" I sure hope so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know if Cass helped with repairs, or even payed to help with the cost of said repairs, from what it looks like in the show, she just left, with what looks like clothes and supplies provided by the castle. Doesn't seem right if you ask me (Or Grey)


	8. Small Hiatus/ Some explaining

Sorry, I haven't been feeling too great this week. I know, I know, it's only on chapter 7, how can there be a hiatus already? I promise my readers though a small amount there may be, that I will be posting the chapter sometime before next Tuesday, then resume the usual posting. There will be more than 30 chapters in total, I've been working on the story for a long time, and I'm so excited to finally share it with you!

I figured, since there hasn't been much explanation in the story, I'd explain a couple things that have happened up to this point.

So yes, Varian has a metal arm. At the battle in Secret of the Sundrop, when his robot was stabbed, he was cut in the arm as well, it got infected with magic, and in jail he was forced to remove it, or it would overtake the rest of his body. He made a metal arm out if supplies Ruddiger brought him. He sees it as his punishment for attacking her.

Quirin leaving. This will affect the story greatly in the future. For many reasons I can't explain at the moment, but you'll see. It is also an idea that I thought pretty logical. Why would he still love this kid who ruined the town again, and sullied the family name? 

Grey. I sincerely hope you guys like her, I had the idea of her a while back and wouldn't you know it? This story was the perfect fit. In summary, she is a genius mechanic, who is a little too big mouthed for her own good. Her age right now is about 16, a year younger than Varian.

Grey's city, think the most steampunk thought you can, then turn that into a city, well, kind of, the buildings here are all made completely of steel, with many new inventions being presented to the public daily. There are really only two classes. Rich and poor, there is no in between.

Thomas, ah, my sweet niave boy. He really tries his best, and has a few impressive hidden talents, but the "fancy boy" is what you would expect a boy, still wet behind the ears to be like. 

Celeste, now, I don't want to spoil too much, but she is going to be very important later on. There is a reason she happened to be in the woods at the exact time Varian needed her. IT WASN'T A DEUX EX MACHINA!! Figured I'd just clarify that :)

Anyways, I'm so sorry to everyone who has been reading this. I am an aspiring author, and this is the first time anyone but my family has seen my writing.

Please, if you have any questions, please comment them down below, nothing makes me happier, than answering questions about my stories.

Thank you guys so much for the support, I love you all!

Legion 8


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